And onto environmental news, on Tuesday we told you that the Placencia residents headed out to South Silk Caye over the long weekend to try and build a break wall that would hopefully prevent the island from eroding more than it already had. But the Fisheries Department advised the public that these types of activities cannot be carried out without the proper permits and environmental assessments.
And today, the Minister of Sustainable Development reiterated that. He first applauded the residents for what they did but noted that it could have been done in a way that's safer for the environment. He also added that there had been efforts to save the island from back in 2019:
Hon. Orlando Habet - Minister of Sustainable Development
"I think I read an article where 2019 they had already commenced efforts to do work, PACT has also assisted but between 2019 to now it doesn't seem as though much was done because you can see there is a lot more erosion. So, I can see the concern from the communities and their effort to do something. I think where things went wrong is they did not consult with the authorities, fisheries, department of environment to see if the methods they were going to use are the right methods. So, I might go there and I might say put a bag of sand to stop the wave, maybe that's not the right way and what seems was these bags of sand, I understand that the material used was foreign material to the area, you start losing that biodiversity of those materials that are originally from there. Two, they were bagged in plastic bags which will under the sun and sea water will deteriorate fast and cause micro plastics to go into the ocean which is something that we don't want. So, whether it was a wall that was to be built, whether it is a small artificial reef or something, so if they had consulted, maybe we would have come to an agreement as what best to do."
Reporter
"Major point that they brought up is that usually in situations like these you have a lot of conservation and it takes time and during this time the island is being eroded and so they felt like they didn't have time, we have to act now, we can't wait for the environmental impact assessment and all of those things to happen. What would you say to that?"
Hon. Orlando Habet
"Like I said, there was an effort in 2019 to now and you can't tell me you didn't do something between 2019 and 2022, so it wasn't an overnight thing, indeed it wasn't, so maybe one more day or two more days wouldn't have been much of a difference if they had consulted with the authorities."
